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I’m thrilled to be a part of John Prine’s just-announced All The Best Fest in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic November 11-15 of 2019. The lineup so far also includes Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Nathaniel Rateliff, Iris Dement, I’m With Her and more. More artists will be announced later. This is going to be a truly memorable five days and I can’t wait. I hope you can join us!

I spoke with Melissa Clarke of Americana Highways recently about sad songs, storytelling, how music creates empathy, Dancing With The Beast, and… crickets.

The album contains characters who are suffering from abuse, depression, Alzheimer’s, and there’s even one song called “Truck Stop Angel.” “It’s human centric,” I remarked. Peters responded: “I’m glad to hear you say that, because some of the most rewarding feedback about the album has come from men who’ve said these are human stories. I have a problem with the whole idea of things like “women’s literature” and I don’t think of myself as addressing an audience of just one gender. Female characters ought to interest everybody.”

I sat down to talk to Jeremy Dylan awhile back for his great podcast, My Favorite Album. Obviously it’s impossible to pick a favorite album, but Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks would undoubtedly be up there at the top of my list any day of the week. Dylan was one of the earliest and most powerful influences on me, as a young kid learning to play the guitar. But it took me a long time to really dig into Blood On The Tracks. From Jeremy’s website:

Gretchen talks about how she fell in love with the album as she was getting divorced, the unusually soft edges of Dylan’s songwriting on this record, how he treats women in his lyrics, how his songs always bring you to a place of empathy and the importance of being brutally honest with yourself as a songwriter.

Originally, the Roots Unearthed series booked Gretchen into the L3 Lounge – however, tickets sold so fast that she was moved into the 2,000-seater St David’s Hall. She totally topped her new prestigious space; her performance, accompanied by arranger, husband and Nashville resident Barry Walsh and two masterful musicians from Ireland, bassist Conor McCreanor and spectacular Belfast guitarist Colm McClean, was absolutely stunning… She stands on a pedestal with Richard Thompson as being the most compelling songwriter on the scene today; like Thompson, her lyrics are astounding, cramming original ideas, words and memorable tunes into a few sharp minutes.

…the arrangements, written by violin player Patsy Reid and worked through with Peters in the run up to the show were sublime, the woody timbre of the cello adding so much to ‘The Secret of Life’ and a brave sense of drama to ‘Hello Cruel World’. Peters paid tribute to the late Jimmy LaFave on ‘Revival’ before offering the audience ‘When You Love Someone’, written with Bryan Adams and then a real crowd favourite, ‘On a Bus to St. Cloud‘. The encore, ‘When You Are Old’, had the audience offering a standing ovation which was tonight much deserved. – Paul Kerr for Americana-UK

USA Today has released a list of Nashville’s best songs of 2018 (so far), and “Wichita” has made the list. The Tennessean music writer and USA Today contributor Juli Thanki writes “When Peters and Ben Glover wrote murder ballad “Blackbirds,” she described the process as similar to solving a crime. The singer-songwriter-detective duo is at it again with the grim “Wichita,” a song told from a 12-year-old girl’s point of view.”

…these may be female characters, but they’re universal emotions… if you depict a character with empathy, and in great detail and with respect, I think it’s genderless. I think that women are compelling to me maybe because I am one and I’ve had that experience, but I really think it’s more about humanity… I’m really gratified at the response from men. And, of course, women have responded very emotionally and strongly to these songs because, in a lot of cases, they’ve lived them.

To read this two page feature in its entirety, pick up a copy of Maverick Magazine at UK newsstands or at their website.

…hard-hitting subject matter is paradoxically couched in gentle melodies and the ethereal caress of Peters’ soothing voice… in some senses, this is a political record, albeit one rooted in personal reflection rather than placard-waving protest. It may go over the heads of some listeners, unaffected by its often stream-of-conscious messages, but it will speak to others like no other album they’ll hear all year. – Terry Staunton

To read this review in its entirety, you can pick up a copy of Record Collector magazine at UK newsstands or at their website.

…back then I was concerned with finding the answers and now I’ve realised that the questions are more interesting. Posing the questions or just describing the scene without having the answers is more open-ended, and you invite somebody inside the song. I’m a big fan of songs that don’t tell you everything… I became aware that I needed to dig deeper and make myself more uncomfortable – that a facility for songwriting isn’t enough to make people feel at the deepest level. You think you’re revealing yourself, and it’s scary, but what you’re actually doing is revealing the listener to themselves.

To read this six page feature in its entirety, you can purchase a copy of Country Music Magazine at UK newsstands or at their website.

“Amidst a flurry of grim solitude, which serves as a shattering reflection of real life, Gretchen Peter’s new album is gilded with softness, almost hopeful in its savory nuances. “Wichita,” named one of our Best Songs of 2018 So Far, is entrenched in southern gothic folklore, a story song about a young girl’s murderous revenge, and signals the comprehensive tone of the record. “Disappearing Act” sketches a woman who’s lost too much to care about appearances, a grisly but gorgeous moment; “Lowlands” is a reaction to the ghastly 2016 presidential reaction, a harsh reality we can’t escape; and “Truckstop Angel” sees her choking on regret. Seven albums deep now, Peters continues sacrificing bits of herself to write such stunning and profound portraits of mankind in exhaustive, radical detail.” – Jason Scott

…‘Dancing With The Beast’ equals or maybe even surpasses her previous work. It isn’t a bundle of laughs or full of catchy throwaway pop tunes. Rather, what you get is a fully-formed collection of great songs, beautifully sung and the musicianship around them is just note perfect.

…Gretchen Peters should be spoken of in the same breath as the likes of Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Guy Clark, and that class of wordsmith and musician. Has she been underrated because she is a woman? You decide.

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I’m thrilled to announce the Strings Attached Tour, coming to the UK for eight very special shows in April 2019. Along with my band, Barry Walsh, Conor McCreanor and Colm McClean, we’ll be joined by the Southern Fried String quartet at each of these shows. Reprising our set at the Southe…

NPR and Mountain Stage have made our recent set there available online. In a recent tweet, NPR said “Gretchen Peters delivered a compelling and honest performance for her fifth appearance on Mountain Stage.” This episode of Mountain Stage was recorded on October 7, 2018 in Charleston, WV…

Last month we visited Mountain Stage for my fourth (!) appearance there. We joined guests Livingston Taylor, Jill Barber, Amber Rubarth and Sean Rowe for the evening and had, as always, a fabulous time. Our performance will be broadcast this week on local NPR stations all over the USA – check…

Carlene Carter concluded her first “Wonderful World of Women Who Write” series of in-the-round performances at Nashville’s Bluebird Café Tuesday night, with the casual atmosphere, off-kilter humor, surprise guests and memorable performances making for an enchanting pre-Halloween treat. Featuring Gre…

Last month, I got together with actor & singer-songwriter Elizabeth McGovern (Ordinary People, Downton Abbey) at her house in London for a Talkhouse podcast. We talked about music, marriage, acting, feminism, Downton Abbey, and much more. It was an exhilarating hour which flew by – and now…

More From Gretchen Peters

Blackbirds

Released in 2015, Blackbirds was awarded International Album & Song of the Year (for the title song) by the Americana Music Association UK. Produced by Doug Lancio, Gretchen Peters & Barry Walsh, Blackbirds features guest appearances by Jason Isbell, Jerry Douglas, Kim Richey and Jimmy LaFave.

The Essential

The Essential Gretchen Peters is a double album retrospective released in 2016. Disc 1 is a hand-picked collection of Peters’ best work chosen from her 20 year recording career, and Disc 2 is a collection of rarities never before released.

Hello Cruel World

Hello Cruel World, with its many versions of Americana, is expertly and sincerely free of cliches, or false romantic notions about any subject it addresses. Its large spiritual truths are revealed in the only way they matter: small, intimate experiences. This album comes to the listener as a gift wrapped in tattered paper, making it all the more precious to receive.- Thom Jurek / AllMusic